My mom died nine years ago today. Cancer, dammit, with a side of cryptosporidium. I miss her every day. It's hard to believe it's been nearly a decade.
Despite my mom's death anniversary, overall I've been feeling pretty good today. This is not always the case, and I was thinking a lot about her death when I went to bed last night; I had no idea how I'd be feeling when I woke up this morning. I know a lot of the folks here at E2 also struggle with depression. There is a pretty good list of coping techniques elsewhere on the Interwebs, if you feel like taking a look. Some people will argue about tip #17. Your mileage will vary widely on that one. Some people find dark fiction cathartic; others find it worsens their mood. I figured out that I would never, ever be in the right mood to watch Dancer in the Dark or Grave of the Fireflies (both well-done films that I just couldn't keep watching.)
In other news, I have an interview with Ursula K. Le Guin in the new book Writers Workshop of Science Fiction & Fantasy, which will be released soon by Seventh Star Press. The book also has features from Tim Powers, Neil Gaiman, Elizabeth Bear, Larry Niven, Harry Turtledove, Nancy Kress, Jay Lake, Ellen Datlow, John Joseph Adams, and many others. I was pretty excited to get that writing assignment, since Le Guin has long been one of my writing idols. It's a relatively short interview, but I think I managed to ask some reasonably good questions.